Short stories from indian epics

Here is my attempt to share short stories from Indian Epic.
(Hope it helps people to learn more about our Epics)..

STORY OF BIRTH OF LORD GANESHA

As per Legend , Once Devi Parvathi, wanted to take a bath, there were no attendants around to guard her.. So she decided to make an Idol out out of dirt/sweat collected from her body, and with her divine powers Parvathi gave Life to that Idol, and gave him a task of guarding and warned him to not let anyone inside..

After some time, lord shiva came to Parvathi's palace and saw this little boy. Shiva asked the boy to let him in.. But Little boy stopped him saying mother has told, not allow anybody.. Though Shiva told he is Parvathi's husband, little boy refused to let him in. Lord shiva got angry and cut off the head of this new boy and threw it away using his trident.

At this time, Goddess Parvathi came back and became very sad, that the boy created by her was killed. Lord Shiva wanted to console Parvathi. So he sent his army to bring the first head that that they see on their way. The first head that they saw was the head of elephant. Shiva fixed that head on the boy’s trunk and brought him back to life. He also accepted him as his elder son and made him chief of his army.

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STORY OF HOW LORD SHIVA BECAME NEELAKANTHA (Story of Samudra Manthana)

During Samudra manthana (Churning of Ocean for Amrutha), lots of things emerged out of ocean. Haalaa-hala, a pot of poison was one among them. This terrified the Gods and demons as the poison was so toxic that it effects would have wiped out the entire creation. On the advice of Lord Vishnu, Gods approached Lord Shiva for help and protection as only he could swallow it without being affected. On the request of gods and out of compassion for living beings, Lord Shiva drank the poison.

However, Parvati - Lord Shiva’s consort pressed his neck so that the poison does not reach his stomach. Thus, it stayed in his throat neither going up nor going down and Shiva remained unharmed. The poison was so potent that it changed the color of Lord Mahadeva’s neck to blue. For this reason, Lord Shiva is also called Neelakantha (the blue-necked one) where ‘Neela’ means blue and ‘Kantha’ means neck or throat. However gods also kept Lord Shiva awake during the night to avoid poison getting down into the body. Thus, Gods kept a vigil in contemplation of Lord Shiva. To amuse Shiva and to keep him awake, the gods took turn performing various dances and playing music. As the day broke out, Lord Shiva, pleased with their devotion blessed them all. Shivaratri is the celebration of this event by which Shiva saved the world. Since then, on this day and night - devotees fast, keep vigil, sing glories of Lord and meditate.

Pitru Paksha is literally "fortnight of the ancestors.. It usually starts right after Ganesha festival and
ends with Mahalaya amavasya.. (After amavasya Navaratri festival begins).

So what is Pitru Paksha ??? It is religious practise performed by son, to pacify their unsatiated souls.

If death anniversary of ancestors are not known or forgotten then those Shraddhas can be performed on this Tithi.That's why Amavasya Shraddha is also known as Sarvapitra Moksha Amavasya.

During Pitru Paksha, Pitra or ancestors come near to the earth. After performing mahalaya Shraddha it is believed,they remain satisfied throughout the year.Annadaana or giving food to the hungry is a central part of the rituals during these 16 days.

Markandeya Purana says that if the ancestors are content with the shraddhas,
they will bestow health, wealth, knowledge and longevity, and salvation upon the performer.

A shraddha ritual performed on this day is considered as fruitful as one conducted in the holy city of Gaya, which is seen as a special place to perform the rite, and hosts a fair during the Pitru Paksha period.

Story behind Shraddha:

According to hindus, the souls of three preceding generations of one's ancestor reside in Pitru–loka, a realm between heaven and earth. This realm is governed by yama, the god of death, who takes the soul of a dying man from earth to Pitru–loka. When a person of the next generation dies, the first generation shifts to heaven and unites with God, so Shraddha offerings are not given. Thus, only the three generations in Pitru–loka are given Shraddha rites, in which Yama plays a significant role

When Karna died in the war, his soul transcended to heaven, where he was offered gold and jewels as food. However, Karna needed real food to eat and asked Indra, the lord of heaven, the reason for serving gold as food. Indra told Karna that he had donated gold all his life, but had never donated food to his ancestors in Shraddha. Karna said that since he was unaware of his ancestors, he never donated anything in their memory. To make amends, Karna was permitted to return to earth for a 15–day period, so that he could perform Shraddha and donate food and water in their memory. This period is now known as Pitru Paksha.

Rites of shraddha
The male who performs the shraddha should take a purifying bath beforehand and is expected to wear a Dhoti. He wears a ring of kush grass. Then the ancestors are invoked to reside in the ring. The shraddha is usually performed bare-chested, as the position of the sacred thread worn by him needs to be changed multiple times during the ceremony. The shraddha involves pinda-daan, which is an offering to the ancestors of pindas (cooked rice and barley flour balls mixed with ghee and black sesame seeds), accompanying the release of water from the hand. It is followed by the worship of vishnu in form of the darbha grass, a gold image or shaligram stone and Yama. The food offering is then made, cooked especially for the ceremony on the roof. The offering is considered to be accepted if a crow arrives and devours the food; the bird is believed to be a messenger from Yama or the spirit of the ancestors. A cow and a dog are also fed, and Brahmin priests are also offered food. Once the ancestors (crow) and Brahmins have eaten, the family members can begin lunch.

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Story of how Durga became MahiShasura-Mardini

Mahishasura's father Rambha was king of the Asuras(Demon), and he once fell in love with a Water Buffalo(Princess Shyamala, cursed to be a buffalo)Mahishasura was born out of this union. He is therefore able to change between human and buffalo form at will (mahisha is Sanskrit word for buffalo).

Mahishasura got boon from Brahma and was very powerful, and became invincible. He started terrorising people, and occupied heaven and drove all Devas.When devas learnt he is Invincible and only Devi Jaganmatha can defeat him, they all joined their energies into shakti. A very powerful band of lightning emerged from the mouths of Brahma, vishnu and shiva and a young, beautiful female virgin with ten hands appeared. All the Gods gave their special weapons to her. This Shakti coalesced to form the goddess Durga. Riding on a lion, who assisted her.Durga fought Mahishasura. The battle raged for nine days and nights. Finally on the tenth day of Ashvin shukla paksha, Mahishasura was defeated and killed by Durga.Durga is therefore called Mahishasura-Mardini (literally the slayer of the buffalo demon), the destroyer of Mahishasura.